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Dental anxiety and caries experience from late childhood through adolescence to early adulthood
Author(s) -
Wong Hai Ming,
Peng SiMin,
Perfecto Antonio,
McGrath Colman P. J.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
community dentistry and oral epidemiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.061
H-Index - 101
eISSN - 1600-0528
pISSN - 0301-5661
DOI - 10.1111/cdoe.12563
Subject(s) - medicine , anxiety , snacking , young adult , oral health , population , cohort study , early childhood caries , dentistry , demography , gerontology , psychiatry , environmental health , pathology , sociology , obesity
Objective To assess the association between dental anxiety and caries experience from late childhood through adolescence and into early adulthood (12, 15 and 18 years old, respectively). Methods A prospective cohort study was conducted among a population‐representative sample of Chinese in Hong Kong. A baseline survey was conducted at age 12 and follow‐up assessments were completed at ages 15 and 18. Caries experience was assessed as the number of decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT). Dental anxiety was assessed using the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS). Participants’ socio‐economic status and oral health‐related behaviours were ascertained using a self‐complete questionnaire. Negative binomial regression was used to explore the association between dental anxiety and subsequent caries status, controlling for other factors. Results At baseline, 668 children participated; 279 (41.8%, comprising 57.0% females) completed all three phases of data collection. MDAS scores at age 18 were lower than at age 12. Caries experience increased as participants aged. At age 15 and 18, females had higher MDAS and DMFT scores than males. Reported frequency of snacking between meals was associated with MDAS scores at age 18. In regression analyses, dental anxiety at age 12 was not significantly associated with dental caries experience at age 15, controlling for socio‐demographic and oral‐health behaviour factors at age 12. Likewise, dental anxiety at age 15 was not significantly associated with dental caries experience at age 18, controlling for the same factors at age 15. Conclusion Dental anxiety assessed by MDAS in late childhood and adolescence appears not to predict dental caries experience later in life in this population.